Water

A bit over a week ago on a Monday morning, a crew arrived on our street and started to dig up the sidewalk directly across the street from us. We did not pay much attention to it and continued living life normally. Dishes were washed, the house was cleaned, and multiples loads of laundry was done. Later that evening as the last load of laundry was put in, we ran out of water. I went and checked and our 2 thousand liter tanks were empty. Doh! I wish someone had told us they were going to turn our water off. That must be what the crew was doing across the street! So I filled the inside tanks with water from the yard tanks so we could at least flush the toilet and take really fast showers in the morning. Usually when the water is shut off it is only for a day or so.

Tuesday evening I get home from work and still no water. I walk over to the landlords business next door to ask when it will be turned back on. What? Your water is off? Ours is working fine. O.K, that's odd, but they are one house uphill from the hole so that may explain it. So they call the water company and the reply is, everybody's water is on. We finished the job and it should be on. Great. That means there is a real problem. I walk over and look at the hole. They replaced a piece of the main line, but did not dig deep under the pipe, so most likely dirt and debris got in and jammed in our line. The landlord put in a ticket with the water company to come out and we wait for the next day.

Nobody shows up the next day and we are out of water again. The landlord pulls his hose over to our tanks and fills them up. We are going on vacation to Florence the next day and the kids are staying home with their aunt. great, we are leaving them with no water. We buy tons of bottled water, wish them luck, and head off to Florence.

Saturday we get a call that the pump is now not working. So I call the landlord and he sends a tech over to look at it. The kids all bath at a friend's house and they fill the toilet tanks with bottled water to flush. Just like camping in a house!

Monday when we get home i see that the water is out again. But it is an Italian holiday so no crews were working. I call the landlord and fill my tanks up again with his hose. He is so embarrassed he disparages his homeland, "Sicilia bad," in his non-existent English. He vows to light a fire under the water company the next day.

Tuesday---no water crew.

Wednesday, look, they're here! the landlord is out yelling at them for their slow response. they take 30 minutes to blow out the lines and poof, we have water. It took a week to do 30 minutes of work. Nice. A family with four small children can wait a week for running water.

Va bene!!!!

Need a Jump?

We were driving the other evening and looked across the road where there were a few young guys standing around a scooter and a car. We were making a u-turn at the next round-aboutso we drove back by the gentlemen a realized what they were doing. The scooter was connected to the car by jumper cables. The scooter was on, and there was a guy trying to start the car. That's right. They were trying to jump start a car with a moped. Giddyup!!!!

Presepe

Italy is well know for elaborate presepes around Natale (Christmas). They really are amazing. An entire room will be transformed into a miniature Italian village complete with river. The manger scene is then incorporated into the village. Every year, the stores are full of different sized people depending on the scale you want to use to create your own presepe. They have straw, rocks, water fountains, windmills, props, and even premade stables. It is a big deal and one of my favorite things about Italy.

So it's mid-November, and just like in the states, all of the Christmas stuff is already out in the stores. In the Italians' defense, at least they aren't overlooking Thanksgiving like American stores. Anyway, I was looking at the presepe stuff, seeing if there is anything I can add to the one we built last year and I see this little guy who is poppin' a squat and droppin' his drawers. Hmmmm, that's interesting. But I guess if you recreate a village, you need to have an outhouse right??!! I mean, that's a part of village life. But then something caught my eye and I leaned in closer. Could it be? Nooooooo, couldn't be. But yes it is! The little dude is actually taking a dump, dropping a load, pinching a loaf, dropping the kids off at the pool, taking the Browns to the Super Bowl...you get the idea. He actually has a piece of poop coming out of his butt. Hopefuly no one puts him too close to the manger scene. Seems wrong somehow.

I Love Trash!

Yes this blog is about Sicily, not Naples. I can attest personally to the nastiness that is Naples and the trash covered streets. But the problem has now come home. Trash pickup in Catania is a daily occurence. We put our trash out in a little basket and it gets picked up everyday. Great right!? Well, it was while it was actuially happening.
The word is that Catania "waste management" is out of money. They can't pay the trash dudes, who then refuse to work for free. Selfish selfish. Anyway, trash builds up for a couple of weeks, then they come and clean everything for a few days, and then back to build-up. Has anyone considered that maybe every other day or every third day pick-up would be cost saving and avoid huge piles? Maybe, but then the unions would throw a fit. And how is Catania out of money? If anything, the tax base is increasing. Oh wait, people have to actually declare their incomes and pay their taxes. Right. So maybe Catania deserves it.

Camping In Sicily

Go ahead, try it. Google "camping in Sicily". You will come up with a list of KOA type campsites with camper parking, electrical plug-ins, showers, bathrooms, and very often a restaurant. That is camping. Now, where I come from, that's not really camping. Camping involves a tent, a campfire, a camp stove, dirt, and bugs. Camping in luxury involves bringing an air mattress and lighter fluid (which are both perfectly acceptable to me). So we wanted to go camping on Mt Etna. It's a mountain, it has forests....perfect for camping. Try googling "camp on mt etna". You pretty much find one campsite that is as described above.

There is a picnic area in a grove of trees about 3/4 the way up the North side of Mt Etna towards Piano Provenzana. You go up to Linguaglossa, take a left, and head up the mountain. It has a few rickety picnic tables and some stone barbecues. It is on park land and thus controlled by the park service (Italian Forest Rangers). Now there is no information available anywhere on whether or not you can camp on Etna, since who would ever consider such an idea! So I had a friend call the Chief of Police in Linguaglossa to make sure no one was going to roust us at 1 am saying we couldn't sleep there (that is assuming an Italian officer would be actively patrolling at 1 am). I know, it's unlikely, but I err on the side of caution. The chief, unable to comprehend why anyone would participate in such a heathen activity mentioned all of the hotels we could stay at. When we finally convinced him we wanted to sleep in a tent, exasperated, he said there are too many flies, we are crazy, but no one is going to bother us. In fact, he even agreed to tell any of his people passing by to look in on us, make sure we were OK. So we were good to go.

We arrived that afternoon and there is a Belgian family and an Italian family picnicking. I lay out a tarp and begin pitching the tents. The Italians watched in awe, confident we were crazy. But, undaunted, I continued. I started the charcoal briquettes and began cooking the hobo (tin foil) dinners. Mmmmmm. The Italians left, shaking their heads. Then the Belgians took off. We had a great time. We roasted marshmallows for s'mores and made up stories around the campfire. After we put the kids to bed, the Belgian family came back. Apparently they were travelling through Italy and camping wherever they found themselves at night. A great idea! See, it's not just Americans that are crazy campers. However, we did laugh when they filled their air mattress using the exhaust of their car. Nothing like sleeping on a bed of carbon monoxide! Puts you right to sleep, and if you actually wake up in the morning, then all's well.

I will admit that in the morning there were A LOT of flies. They seemed to love pancake batter. But what's roughing it without a few bugs right?

If you ever decide you want to camp on a volcano in Sicily, just remember, the locals won't be of any help. Camping? Who would do that when there are perfectly good hotels nearby? Uncivilized I tell you. Uncivilized.

Graffiti

So graffiti is a huge problem here in Sicily and Southern Italy in general. There are absolutely no controls on the purchase of spray paint. Anyone with a few Euro can buy a can. The low police presence and lack of respect for what police presence does exist, creates a perfect atmospere for teen vandalism and tagging. The tragedy is when you see graffiti on buildings older than the United States. We went and visited a Norman Castle, and there was graffiti all over it. The US hadn't been discovered yet! Yet here, it's no biggie, tag that baby up. Every once in a while though you see a work of art. These are two pieces painted near our home. Don't ask me to explain the symbolism on the "mammory soup" one, but the writing on the old man one translates roughly to "for the Sicilian culture, looking forward to a better future."

Fireworks

OK, fireworks in Sicily are an every night occurrence. There isn't any anticipation for the one or two nights a year the kids get to stay up to watch fireworks. Every Saint gets his/her own fireworks show. Pick a reason, any reason, and we'll do fireworks to celebrate. But they don't do them at 9 or 9:30. Oh no. Lets wait till it's really dark, say 1:00 am. Yeah, that's a good idea! We'll wake everyone up to let them know we are celebrating little Giovanni's first tooth! So the American community does a fireworks show on July4th. No big deal to the Sicilians, just another fireworks show. For some reason, the fireworks misfired in that they didn't quite get as high as they were supposed to before exploding. And, of course, it's summer so the brush is all really dry. So a few minutes into the show, the brush catches on fire. Now in the States, they would shut down the show, evacuate the crowd, and call in the fire department. Not in Sicily. Fire? Who cares! The show must go on. So the fireworks show continues as the fire blazes and spreads into the neighboring olive grove. Party On!!!

Drive Beer

OK, so I don't actually drink beer, but I just love this brand of beer. Drive Beer. That's right, because beer and driving go so well together. Now, in Drive Beer's defense, it is non-alcoholic beer, the Italian O'Doul's, but come on. Making the fact that you can legally drink and drive with this tasty beverage not only the ad campaign, but the name of the beer seems a bit inappropriate. Remember folks, if you've got the keys, drink and drive, Drive Beer.

Ethnic Food In Sicily

For awhile now, we have wanted to try a new restaurant near our house called Ikebana. It is a Japanese word that means "arranged flower." The sign for the restaurant is also very Japanese with bamboo shoots as the logo. Now Catania is a fairly large city, but it is very difficult to find ethnic foods. There is a Japanese restaurant downtown, a couple of Chinese joints (there is a Chinese population in Catania), a Moroccan restaurant, and a really bad Mexican place. That's pretty much it. Italians tend to believe they have the best food in the world and see no reason whatsoever to eat anything different. So, as ethnic restaurants are fairly rare, we were very excited that there was one so close to us. We arrive at the restaurant and it is very nice. The pathways are lit by candles. The building is an old lava stone house typical of Sicily, but they enclosed the outside in glass to make very nice indoor seating. There is also a patio with nice wicker type tables and chairs and curtains giving the tables privacy. We opted for an outside table because we didn't have reservations and didn't want to wait. We sat down on very comfortable chairs. The place mats talked about the Japanese style and gardening techniques used to create the wonderful atmosphere. This was looking good.

Our waiter brought us out a menu and we opened it, excited to choose a tasty Japanese dish. The first page: Italian antipasti. OK, so maybe they know some patrons aren't very diverse in their food choices. The second page: Italian pasta dishes. The third page: Italian main dishes. So now the Italian food is out of the way, let's turn to the Japanese food on the next page. Page four: pizza. That's right, pizza! Even a pizza named Ikebana! What the....

So, the ITALIAN food was excellent at our neighborhood Japanese restaurant. What else can I say? Only In Sicily!!

Calcio Catania

When we arrived in 06, Catania's soccer (calcio) team had just made it back up to Serie A, which is the equivalent of a minor league team being accepted into the majors. Serie A works on a system of relegation where the bottom three teams drop down to Serie B while the top of Serie B go up. For many teams, they go up and down over and over. It had been a long time since Catania had made it up and everyone in town was very excited. It is easy to have team spirit when the city only has two major professional teams (one being American football, which doesn't exactly draw the crowds). In fact everyone was so excited that when Palermo came to Catania there were riots and a policeman was killed. After that, the season continued, but no fans were allowed at the games. Ouch! Way to trip over yourselves!

Their first year, Catania did OK. They finished somewhere in the middle of the pack. But the 07-08 season: not so good. After some injuries, a coaching change, and some poor play, the end of the season was looking a bit scary. Would they be relegated down? The last game was against powerhouse Roma, in second place overall, hoping a win combined with some cooperation from Inter Milan would boost them into 1st. So Catania was playing at home to stay alive and Roma was playing to win. If Catania lost and Empoli won, they would be tied and their head-to-head record would send Catania down. After a very suspenseful game with an early Roma goal, Catania evened things up in the 85th minute to end in a tie. Catania essentially secured last place among the teams staying in Serie A. People were driving all over town on scooters waving Catania flags and scarves, honking their horns, going crazy. I didn't see that much excitement in the Bay Area when Oakland won the World Series! People were going crazy because they took last!!! OIS!

Norman castles and Sicilian pride

I figured I'd post something positive to start off, then gradually go downhill. Northeastern Sicily has a ring network of Norman castles built roughly during the late 11th and 12th centuries. One of them is located in Paterno', which used to be a few short kilometers from where I lived out in town. One day, I drove over to the castle with my then-15-month-old son. After hauling his stroller up the external stairs, for fear that it would be stolen if left unattended for a second, I donated a few Euro, received a few Xerox papers about the history of the castle, and was asked by the trio of octagenarian volunteers to sign their guest book. When they saw that I was an American, they asked how I had come to visit their castle in Paterno'. In my best pidgen Italian, I told them I used to study history and was interested in Norman castles. They beemed with pride, "You studied our castle in America?" How could I tell them no when they looked so pleased that Paterno' was evidently the focus of American historical study? How do you say in Italian that the only Paterno' I knew before I got to Sicily coached football? So I lied. "Yes, I studied your castle." This led to a personally led tour of the castle, the revelation of some archaeological artifacts not on display for general visitors, and the encouragement that I check out the book "Sicilian Castles" in the local library. One of them even guarded my stroller during the visit. When I left, they encouraged me to tell my friends back in America about the castle.

I never did find the town library or that book though.

Traffic Accident

No blog about Sicily would be complete without talking about driving, or the experience of constantly being trapped on the amusement park bumper car ride with no hope for escape. I am guessing that there are going to be many posts on this topic, but I would like to share my experience yesterday driving home on the tangenziale (A18) heading Northbound past the ANAS exit but before Galermo (ANAS is the Caltrans of Sicily). Traffic going home is usually heavy but flowing. Just after the Misterbianco exit to the circumvalazione when there is no more chance of escape, traffic started slowing and then came to a dead stop. We waited and waited, but the freeway was suddenly a giant parking lot. Of course, to the Sicilians, who are always in a hurry to get everywhere, this is the worst form of torture. So they all got out of their cars and started walking up to see what was going on, taking a smoke break, socializing with the guy behind them they had cut off five minutes earlier. Some ANAS vehicles drove by on the shoulder and a crane. This was a bad sign. The last time I saw a crane on the freeway it was trying to lift a semi up that had gone over the side of an overpass. After a bit more than an hour parked, we started to move. Hooray! So we crept slowly forward. As we got closer to the accident, ANAS guys were directing everyone to get into the right lane to pass the accident and emergency vehicles. When I was 11 cars away from passing the accident, they stopped us again! ARRGGHHH. Thank goodness for book tapes and A/C!

This time I decide to get out of my car to stretch and get some fresh, diesel fume laden air. I looked up towards the accident and lo and behold they stopped traffic to allow a vehicle that had come down the freeway the wrong way to arrive. And it was, yep you guessed it, a hearse! No, not an ambulance to take the body away, an actual black hearse with cross on top and suited driver-in the fast lane, on the freeway, during traffic. Only in Sicily (OIS!) Of course now people from way back were walking up to have a look see. And, of course, traffic was backed up on the other side for rubberneckers. OK. That's normal. One of the ANAS guys was standing on the median barriers waving them on. Then a car on the other side stops just past the accident, causing honking and yelling. He puts the car in reverse, backs up (on the freeway!), to get a better look. Five minutes later a semi stops. rolls down the window, and leans out the cab to get a better look. Let's cause a pile-up in the Southbound lanes shall we? I mean the cops are here already so why not? They finally let us drive by. All the drivers out of their cars were scrambling back to get in before the movement reached back to them. And finally my normally 1/2 hour commute ended 2.25 hours later.

The fatality was a 27 year old man on a motorcycle who hit the guard rail. I am actually surprised it does not happen more often. But still, my condolences to the family. I am in no way making light of the tragic accident, only the reactions and behavior of those around me. OIS!

Only In Sicily

I should have started this blog when we first got here two years ago, because, well, there are things you find in Sicily that are incomprehensible. Things that you just can't believe would ever happen or be allowed in what is arguably a developed nation. Now don't get me wrong. Sicily is an incredible place and should be on everyone's list of places to visit before dying. They have an incredible history and one could never see everything there is to see. They claim the best oranges, olive oil, and wine. They are the birthplace of the mafia as we know it. But from an American perspective, their customs and habits are just alien. Not in a bad way mind you, but anywhere else you go in Europe, you feel pretty comfortable. You can find familiar things to grasp onto. But in Sicily...

I will continue to write as I discover new things, take pictures, or run across funny anecdotes. Please, if you have an experience you would like to share, let me know. I think everyone that has every visited Sicily should have some sort of experience.